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Weekly news and blog roundup: Show me the money

Vatican makes attempted ordination of women a grave crime

Last week the Church of England’s synod voted overwhelmingly to allow women to be ordained as bishops. Worried that some might mistakenly connect the Catholic Church with such tolerance, the Vatican announced three days later that in its establishment the same actions would constitute a ‘grave crime’, putting it in the same category as clerical sex abuse of minors. I think it might be time to employ a new head of PR.

Read the Guardian’s news coverage here.

Watch the BBC’s news coverage here.

[Video via Atheist Media Blog]

Scientology’s problem with Twitter

Last year, Cardiff councillor John Dixon happened to pass a local branch of the Church of Scientology. He reached for his phone and Tweeted “I didn’t know the Scientologists had a church on Tottenham Court Road. Just hurried past in case the stupid rubs off.” Now he faces a disciplinary hearing for breaching the code of conduct for local authority members.

In response, the term #stupidscientology has become a trending topic on Twitter. For those of you whose lives don’t revolve around what Stephen Fry has for tea each day, that means it’s one of Twitter’s most talked about topics in the UK today. I only hope that the tweets are to say what a first-rate job the church (it’s definitely a church) is doing, which I want to make clear is my view.

Read the Guardian’s news coverage here.

Watch BBC Newsnight’s interview with Councillor John Dixon here.

[Via Atheist Media Blog]

£17,500 fine over ‘spiritual healer’ advert

This week TV watchdog Ofcom bared its teeth and fined a television network £17,500 for airing a spiritual healing advert ‘likely to exploit vulnerable people’. The ad promoted ‘spiritual healer’ Professor Mohammed Zain, whose advise to one client was to credit his account with £110, pray for a week and call him back. She did so, and upon receiving her call Zain told her to cough up a further £1,400 and in return he would find her a prince. Charming.

Read the Guardian’s news coverage here.

The missing pope petition

Those of you who signed the ‘Protest the Pope’ petition will have recently received an email with the official response from the Prime Minister’s office, which is essentially ‘The Pope is coming to dinner. The UK taxpayer has to fork out a shedload of cash for it.’ Your reaction was probably similar to mine: ‘We know all this. That’s what we’re protesting against!’

So in essence Downing Street ignored the petition. But if that wasn’t bad enough it’s now been removed by Whitehall officials, more than three months before it was scheduled to close. It seems that only selected petitions are allowed.

Don’t let it end there. The Protest the Pope Coalition plans to rally against the Pope’s visit on Saturday 18 September in London. Anyone who isn’t there is a kiddy-fiddler.

Read more here.

Find out more about the rally and other events here.

[Via Richard Dawkins]

Chicken eggs and Ham

Last week MSNBC reported that scientists have ‘proven’ that the chicken came before the egg – a claim despairingly debunked by PZ Myers. At least one reader was convinced though. This week Ken Ham smugly blogged on the discovery’s consistency with the Bible’s creation myth. Looks like Bananaman’s got a new partner in crime: Eggface.

Read more here.

[Via Pharyngula]

BHA condemns “appalling decision” to give education award to creationist zoo

Gone are the days when we could say ‘only in America’. The Council for Learning Outside the Classroom, an initiative of the last UK government set in place to promote educational school trips, has awarded creationist Noah’s Ark Zoo a ‘Quality Badge’ in recognition of its educational programme. Setting aside the biblical myths that are its backbone, the programme denies a host of scientific facts that conflict with the establishment’s views including radio carbon dating, the fossil record and the speed of light. The British Humanist Association is urging for the award’s retraction.

Read more here.

[Via Planet Atheism]

Facing Mecca when you pray doesn’t matter says Islamic leader

Indonesian Muslims have been praying in the wrong direction. Rather than facing Mecca it turns out that the country’s mosques had people facing Africa. The head of the Indonesian Ulema Council – the organisation responsible for the mix up – assured Muslims that their prayers had still been heard by Allah. That’s one bit of superstition ignored, only the rest of the Koran to go.

Read more here.

[Via Friendly Atheist]

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Please feel free to leave a comment and I will do my best to reply as quickly as possible. Until next time, take care of yourself, and each other.

If you come across something that you think our readers would enjoy, send a tip my way at will [at] skeptic [dot] org [dot] uk.

Weekly news and blog roundup: The bleeding obvious

What’s fuelling Africa’s anti-homosexuality movement? Did doomsday occur last week as predicted? Was The Hills actually reality television? Whether you’re in need of a lesson in the bleeding obvious or you think you know it all already, you’re sure to learn something from this week’s roundup.

Dispatches: Africa’s Last Taboo

Completely devastating but equally compelling, Africa’s Last Taboo examines African attitudes towards homosexuality and the government policies they inform. The program opens with a hook: stay tuned to find out what’s driving the African anti-homosexuality movement. I don’t want to give away the ending, but I’m sure one guess is all you’ll need anyway.

Watch Dispatches: Africa’s Last Taboo here. (This video is unfortunately available in the UK).

Church members sue after doomsday fails to occur

Two former church members are suing their ex-pastor and his associates for conning them out of a combined $1.4m by lying about a doomsday that never came. I’m not sure how Australian church Agape Ministries claimed it would put their money to use – first-class tickets to the pearly gates perhaps? In any event, here’s where the line between giggles and sh*ts gets blurred:

Ms Baligod said she believed many other people wanted to come forward with civil claims, but were scared. “A lot of them have been threatened by insiders, with death threats as I understand it,” she said.

Read the ABC news coverage here.

[Via Planet Atheism]

Australian antivax group slammed for “misleading and inaccurate information”

And now, some good news for Australia: An Australian government investigation has called antivax group Australian Vaccination Network (AVN) out on their manipulative and dishonest peddling of misinformation. The report found that AVN, who claim not to be antivax, cherry-pick data and even invent sheer lies to steer anyone who’ll listen away from dreaded, life-saving vaccines. Unfortunately there is no real punishment in store for AVN, but they will now have to include on their website a prominent disclaimer stating their antivax position.

Read more here.

Watch Australian news program Lateline’s coverage here.

[Article via Discover Blogs | Bad Astronomy]

[Video via Sean the Blogonaut]

‘Forbidden Art’ show organisers convicted of “fuelling religious hatred”

The organisers of a 2006 Russian exhibition called ‘Forbidden Art’, which featured works considered ‘too outrageous to show elsewhere’, have been found guilty of fuelling religious hatred. Although the works included depictions of Jesus as Mickey Mouse and Lenin, organisers say it was not their intention to offend, but rather to draw attention to censorship issues.

The organisers were sentenced with heavy fines, which disappointed many Russian Orthodox believers, who had hoped for a prison sentence. Also disappointed was a group of artists, who felt the verdict was an infringement on free speech and expressed their outrage with fitting creativity – by releasing thousands of cockroaches in the court building.

Read the Moscow Times’ news coverage here.

Watch Russia Today’s news coverage here.

[Via Atheist Media Blog]

The Skeptic’s Guide to the Universe: Episode 260

There’s no real reason for my including this particular episode of The Skeptic’s Guide to the Universe in this week’s roundup, but I so rarely get around to listening to them and every time I do I’m reminded of how great they are.  So if you’re new to The Guide, you’re in for a treat; if like me you rarely listen to them, let this one remind you why you should do more often; or if you’re so hooked you can recite them all word for word, as you were.

Listen to the latest episode of The Skeptic’s Guide to the Universe here.

Topics of discussion include: fin to limb evolution; Pat Boone on the laws of physics; ice patch archaeology; Steven Barratt sued; your questions and emails; flag worship; and science or fiction?.

[Via The Skeptic’s Guide to the Universe]

The Age of the Genome: Episode 4

Richard Dawkins’ Radio 4 program The Age of the Genome has reached its fourth and final episode and I’ve neglected to tell you about it, so if you haven’t found it by other means I’m afraid you’ve got some catching up to do.

In episode four, Dawkins talks to Craig Venter – who recently unveiled the world’s first self-replicating species whose parent is a computer – and other leading scientists about the potential powers of genome science in the future. What could be better?

Listen to all episodes of The Age of the Genome here.

French lawmakers vote to ban burqa in public

Women in France could be fined or required to attend citizenship classes for wearing full-length veils in public if a new bill is passed. This week the lower house of parliament approved the bill by an overwhelming majority of 335 to 1, but it must still be vetted by the Constitutional Council and approved by the Senate in September.

Whatever your thoughts on that, you can’t disagree with the section of the bill that would impose a €30,000 fine and a one-year prison sentence on anyone who forces another person to cover their face.

Opponents of the bill see it as a violation of the rights to freedom of expression and religion. Proponents consider it vital for furthering women’s rights and maintaining the country’s reputation for fashion.

Read Reuters’ news coverage here.

Woman on ‘Wife Swap’ makes her surrogate family train for 2012

Last week’s episode of Wife Swap USA brought reality television into the realms of fantasy as a crazed woman had her surrogate family train for the 2012 apocalypse. The filmmakers can’t have believed their luck; you know you’ve hit comedy gold when the cameras are rolling and you’ve got a fully-grown man fitting a life-jacket onto a dog.

Read io9’s blog post and watch a clip from the show, here.

[Via Skepchick]

‘Everybody Draw Muhammad Day’ cartoonist put on execution list

A terror preacher linked to the botched Times Square bombing has put the creator of ‘Everybody Draw Muhammad Day’ on an execution hit list. Yemeni-American cleric Anwar al-Awlaki wrote in Inspire, a new English-language Al Qaeda magazine aimed at recruiting westerners, that “the medicine prescribed by the Messenger of Allah is the execution of those involved”. Awlaki also damned eight other cartoonists, journalists and authors for their involvement with the ‘blasphemous cartoons’.

Read NY Daily News’ coverage here.

[Via Skepchick]

‘The Hills’ finale: Fake set emerges as Kristin Cavallari and Brody Jenner say goodbye

Who’d’ve thought it? The Hills - that emotional rollercoaster tracking the day-to-day lives of glamorous guys and girls, managing to neatly tie up each episode’s storyline after half an hour – is faked. As the show’s finale closed the cameras pulled out to reveal a Hollywood set and the fans rushed to Twitter in search of shoulders to cry on. Don’t worry guys, you can always rely on the integrity of Laguna Beach.

Read NY Daily News’ coverage here.

********************************

Please feel free to leave a comment and I will do my best to reply as quickly as possible. Until next time, take care of yourself, and each other.

If you come across something that you think our readers would enjoy, send a tip my way at will [at] skeptic [dot] org [dot] uk.

Little Atoms with Helen Keen – Friday 16th July 19.00 on Resonance 104.4FM

On this week’s show, Neil Denny and Rebecca Watson talk to comedian Helen Keen.

Helen Keen is a stand-up comedian and writer, she was a finalist in the 2005 Funny Women competition and the Hackney Empire New Act of the Year competition and has been nominated for the Leicester Mercury Comedian of the Year award. She won the first Channel 4 New Comedy Writing Award in 2005. Since then she has written for, among others, Channel 4′s Friday Night Project and BBC Radio 4′s The Now Show and is currently developing scripts with BBC3, Channel 4 and BBC Radio 4. Helen’s award winning show about space, It is Rocket Science!, is being re-launched at this years Edinburgh Festival and is currently being developed into a show for Radio 4. Helen is also co-hosting a new show, Starstruck!, at Edinburgh with Astrophysicist Dr Sophia Khan.

Weekly News and Blog Roundup: Here to Help

Whether you’re willing to adopt, donate, or you’re so damn stingy that you’ll struggle to write an email, there are some seriously disturbing causes in need of your backing this week. But don’t worry, you can close the window at any time, so don’t let that put you off reading this week’s roundup.

Read more »

Little Atoms with Timothy Garton Ash – Friday 9th July 19.00 on Resonance 104.4FM

On this week’s Little Atoms, Neil Denny talks to Timothy Garton Ash.

Timothy Garton Ash is the author of eight books of political writing or “history of the present”. They include The Magic Lantern, The File, History of the Present and Free World. His latest is Facts Are Subversive: Political Writing From a Decade Without a Name. He is Professor of European Studies and Isaiah Berlin Professorial Fellow at St Antony’s College, Oxford, and a Senior Fellow at the Hoover Institution, Stanford University. His essays appear regularly in the New York Review of Books and his weekly column for the Guardian is widely syndicated in Europe, Asia and the Americas. He has received many awards for his writing, including the Somerset Maugham Award and the George Orwell Prize.